There is a term used by some people which says 'hate the sin, not the sinner'. It remained a somewhat meaningless saying to me becasue it was said by people who did in fact hate the sinner and in my ignorance I dismissed the whole package.
However, it does mean something. it means a great deal. If we describe people who commit evil acts as evil, that sounds pretty accurate, yes? Bad people do bad things, yes? Good people do bad things? well no. Not if you follow the above logic. Only bad people do bad things. Sooooo... all of us are plain bad people. we have all done bad things. We have all acted selfishly, we have all acted or spoken in anger. we have all hurt someone else. In short we have all made mistakes. Therefore we are all bad. That does not seem very helpful. To think of ourselves as bad people just leads to more bad being done. Unless of course it is only others we consider bad people because our mistakes are not as bad as theirs! If we are taught from a very young age that something is not bad, indeed that it is 'holy' or 'heroic' then we will grow up believeing this. This may lead us to do things that others view as evil. Are we to think'oh, my parents were wrong, my family is bad' becasue others think we are committing evil? Not likely. very few people have the courage to renounce their families and their heritage. It is far too frightening and painful for most to handle. This goes for many 'ideas' which is one reason i feel it is wrong to teach children to follow a particular religion. I don't feel it wrong to teach children about religions, just to bring them up in one. Why? Because children are unable to think for themselves and by them time they are able, their meaning structure has been set and it will be painful for them to think differently. My parents were 'blank' and so i too am 'blank'. I must be 'blank' becasue if i doubbt it, and decide that 'blank' is wrong then that will mean my parents who I love are also wrong. Likewise with other beliefs. If my parents believe that a certain group of people are bad, then I too will beliwve that. If I think it is wrong to think like that, then my parents must ahve been wrong and my parents are good people who love me and they cannot think bad or do bad. Can they? So either it is the sin that is bad or it is the sinner. if it is the sinner then we are ALL bad. I prefer to think otherwise. -- bw colin DAK,BRO GC, 950i, 940,860,864,890, 260,Silver 830,860, 580 and 270, Passap 6000, Duo80. [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.tantra-apso.com
